For a patient in need, the most important asset a hospital can offer is high quality care. But how do patients decide which hospital to choose? In today’s digital age, more than 88% of potential patients go online to research information about healthcare providers. When a potential patient sees your hospital or medical center website, is the quality of your care evident? While website copy writing must convey a serious message with warmth and confidence, the photos on healthcare websites are equally important.

It’s critical to choose the right images for your website. How do you choose photos that communicate confidence, safety, hygiene and compassionate, high quality care? While there are no rules to follow, we’ve assembled some helpful tips on how to select good images for your website.

1. Size and Position

Remember that your website will be displayed on a screen. The images on the home page of your site should be strong and should convey the feeling of your brand. Larger size photos placed at the top and center of the page give greater depth and value than small photos placed toward the bottom of the site. These images should be self-explanatory and should not need captions. Choose these photos with care, as they will set the tone for your site. The photos should be large enough to convey the point, without requiring the viewer to scroll sideways or down to see the image.

2. Photos Should Complement Your Brand

In the past, nearly all medical websites were designed in blue and white, communicating cleanliness, safety and competence. These colors are now so common that for many, it is virtually impossible to tell one hospital website apart from another. If your hospital logo looks similar to other hospital logos, you can use photos to communicate your brand promise without changing your logo. Think about your brand and what you want to communicate. Choose photos that help you communicate this message. There are many strong stock and royalty-free photo sites that offer excellent photo choices. Use these photos to give your site the feeling you desire. If you want custom photos, show a photographer the stock photos you have selected to help them take custom photos of your hospital for a truly custom appeal.

3. Create an Emotional Tone that Builds Patient Confidence

For a patient in need, the task of finding a medical provider is a serious business. They may be coping with a serious problem, and want to see that your facility is equally serious about the care you’re offering. It’s also important to communicate that your medical team understands how to smile and make a patient feel at ease. Show doctors with warm, confident smiles that radiate care and compassion. Doctors should appear friendly, yet professional, and always wearing professional attire. Healthcare is serious business and should be taken seriously. However, no one wants to look at a website with doctor photos that look like “mug shots”. Photos should help patients come to KNOW, LIKE and TRUST your doctors and your facility. Having the right photographer and the right healthcare marketing agency can make all the difference in the world.

Clearly, there is more to creating a successful, results-driven webpage than just selecting images and photos. Today’s best healthcare websites are expressions of a company’s brand and communicate a depth of emotion while generating confidence in the brand. In this competitive age, when every patient counts, a successful website can often be the difference between success and second place. It’s one thing to get people to visit your website. How do you convert these visitors into patients? This is where having an experienced marketing partner matters. Successful healthcare marketing agencies understand how to transform a website and other digital tools into a competitive edge. If this sounds like it might a good fit for your healthcare organization, give us a call. We welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can help you maximize your marketing investment to drive results.